Saturday, September 28, 2019

Oyinkan Braithwaite

Oyinkan Braithwaite’s is the author of My Sister the Serial Killer.

From her CrimeReads Q&A with Molly Odintz:

Molly Odintz: My Sister the Serial Killer is, on one hand, a not-so-universal story about a woman who ends up helping her sister cover up a string of murders. It is also a much more universal story about sibling dynamics, and how in many a household, one sister ends up doing all the work—and cleaning up all the messes—while the other, more beautiful sister, has fun. What did you want to explore about family power dynamics in your novel?

Oyinkan Braithwaite: The power dynamic between the sisters, between the father and his children, between husband and wife, developed somewhat organically as I fleshed the story out.

Initially, it was going to be a story about two friends, but I wanted something beyond choice that bound the two women together. You choose who your friends are. You don’t choose your family. And I set out to explore the love, loyalty and betrayal between the sisters.

Then I became fascinated with examining the age old debate of nature vs nurture and the different responses to trauma within the family.

And while we’re talking about sisters—do you have one? And, if so, what did she think of the novel?

I have two sisters and a brother. At first...[read on]
--Marshal Zeringue